[JPL] According to Downbeat Giovanni: RISING star on percussion

[Forrest Bryant]

I haven't seen the Critics Poll results yet but I am a voter, so I may
as well chime in here...

There are a couple of things to bear in mind about the DB critics poll
that I think can cause wacky results once you get beyond the "major"
categories.

Each critic is given ten "points" in each category to distribute as
they wish. A critic can vote for up to three people/bands/albums in
each category and apply a maximum of five points to any of them, so
the votes might be split 5-5-0, 5-4-1, 5-3-2, or any other combo
adding up to 10. Once you get out of the big categories, fewer people
cast votes, so a single critic's opinion winds up having more weight.
100 points in the results could conceivably represent only 20 people
(but probably more).

It's up to each individual critic to decide whether a particular
artist is a "rising star". If somebody is still young-ish but
established, he or she can easily wind up on both lists. Also, the
voters frequently find themselves in a dilemma: "do I keep so-and-so
in the Rising Star category, where they might win and get some
recognition, or move them over to the regular category where they'll
languish in the shadow of superstar players?" That can be a tough one.

And although we were supposed to limit our consideration to
performances or recordings between April 2006 - April 2007, it seems
to be pretty common for people to wander beyond that. My guess is the
Barretto votes were largely based on his final album, even though it
was released before April 2006.

[FB]

-- 
Forrest Dylan Bryant
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Jazz Director, KZSU 90.1 FM
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